About eight men and women dressed in black, faces covered in bandannas and armed with hammers, sticks and poles had just barged down the doors of Oakland’s landmark Rotunda Building — with another dozen behind them — when they were turned back by a tenant with a shotgun and an attitude.

This wasn’t your average building employee, this was Oakland developer and building owner Phil Tagami who provided a one-man sentry for the Frank H. Ogawa Plaza building that he oversaw a $50 million renovation on in years past.

“They took a few steps forward and I racked the shotgun and they left,” Tagami said Thursday, still calming from the events of the previous night. “It’s sort of the universal ‘Don’t come any farther’ sign.”

And the group didn’t. They high-tailed back out through the front doors and joined the raucous crowd outside.

The Oakland native and longtime mover and shaker surveyed extensive damage to the building Thursday, estimating hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage, from broken windows to vandalism to destroyed property.

“It’s not hyperbole to say we were under siege last night,” he said.

Tagami, who worked late Wednesday, brought his shotgun from home before leaving for work — just in case. About 10:30 p.m., as the situation deteriorated outside his building, he told the janitorial staff to leave the first floor, and pulled the security guard from his desk.

Tagami said he phoned the mayor’s office and began communicating with senior staff around 10:45 p.m. voicing his concerns. Yet police were nowhere in sight, he said.

At around 11 p.m., a group of protesters began forcing the glass front doors back and forth before they opened partially. Before they could move much further, Tagami lifted his shotgun. He insists he did not point the gun at anyone, just positioned it in front of him and cocked it.

After the group cleared out, Tagami continued checking in with the mayor’s office and at 12:14 a.m., the assistant city manager phoned to tell him the police were moving in.

It was too little, too late, Tagami said.

“This is an illegal occupation and it has had misintended consequences,” he said. “They are aiding and abetting the provocateurs and anarchists who have been terrorizing the downtown.

“We need to give (the police) the tools and support to fix that,” he said.

As Tagami worked in his firm Thursday in the upper floors of the building, he still had a hard time believing his previous night.

“I was very nervous and I’m still uncomfortable with what happened,” Tagami said.

His publicized actions have netted him hate email, as well. He has no further plans to stand guard.

Matthias Gafni is an award-winning investigative reporter for the Bay Area News Group. He has reported and edited for Bay Area newspapers since he graduated from UC Davis, covering courts, crime, environment, science, child abuse, education, county and city government, and corruption. A Bay Area native, he cherishes his Warriors, Giants and 49ers. Send tips to 925-952-5026 or mgafni@bayareanewsgroup.com.

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